Updated Chiefs depth chart projections for August 2020

A lot has changed for the Kansas City Chiefs since our last offseason depth chart projection.

As part of the new agreement between the NFL and NFLPA, teams are required to cut down their roster to 80 players ahead of August 16. The Chiefs are already down to 80 players. Two starters from Super Bowl LIV have opted out of the 2020 season. The Chiefs have also added two free agents to the fold. We still haven’t had an opportunity to see players hit the field, but we are just a few weeks away from that finally happening.

For the purposes of this depth chart projection, three players (Martinas Rankin, BoPete Keyes, and Juan Thornhill) won’t be listed as they’re currently on the non-football injury or physically unable to perform list. They all still count on the active roster and can be activated at any time ahead of the start of the season.

Here are our latest updated projections for the offseason depth chart:

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Offense (38)

Pos.	First	Second	Third	Fourth
QB	Patrick Mahomes	Matt Moore	Chad Henne	Jordan Ta’amu
RB	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	Darrel Williams, Darwin Thompson	DeAndre Washington	Elijah McGuire
FB	Anthony Sherman
WR	Tyreek Hill	Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle	Kalija Lipscomb, Maurice Ffrench	Andre Baccellia
WR	Sammy Watkins	Mecole Hardman, Gehrig Dieter	Jody Fortson	Justice Shelton-Mosley
TE	Travis Kelce	Deon Yelder	Ricky Seals-Jones	Nick Keizer
LT	Eric Fisher	Greg Senat	Yasir Durant
LG	Kelechi Osemele	Andrew Wylie	Nick Allegretti
C	Austin Reiter	Nick Allegretti	Darryl Williams
RG	Mike Remmers	Ryan Hunter	Lucas Niang
RT	Mitchell Schwartz	Lucas Niang	Jackson Barton

Observations:

• The Chiefs’ starting RB in Super Bowl LIV, Damien Williams opted out of the 2020 season following his mother’s cancer diagnosis. That means RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, gets the bump to the first team.
• Coming in behind Edwards-Helaire are Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson. They’ll battle for snaps behind the rookie running back as the two most veteran running backs in Kansas City.
• The Chiefs added free agent Kelechi Osemele. This came following the news that RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif would opt out of the 2020 season and continue working as an orderly in Canada. Osemele has played at LG for most of his career. I anticipate that he’ll play there in Kansas City given both starting guard spots are open.
• Mike Remmers is my choice for the Chiefs’ starter at the RG position. He played 2018 at RG for the Vikings, finishing the season with a 58.9 grade according to PFF. That’s better than the grade that Laurent Duvernay-Tardif finished with during 2019.
• At backup guard spots, I have Andrew Wylie and Ryan Hunter. We’ll see if the Chiefs play Nick Allegretti, Yasir Durant or Darryl Williams at guard at all during training camp.
• Wide receivers Aleva Hifo and Cody White were both waived, leaving only four UDFA receivers from the 2020 class.
• H-Back John Lovett was waived and OG Jovahn Fair was also waived.

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Defense (42)

Pos.	First	Second	Third
LDE	Alex Okafor	Breeland Speaks	Demone Harris, Taco Charlton
LDT	Chris Jones	Khalen Saunders	Tershawn Wharton
RDT	Derrick Nnadi	Mike Pennel	Devaroe Lawrence
RDE	Frank Clark	Tanoh Kpassagnon	Mike Danna, Tim Ward
LB	Anthony Hitchens	Willie Gay Jr.	Ben Niemann, Darius Harris
LB	Damien Wilson	Dorian O’Daniel	Emmanuel Smith, Omari Cobb
LCB	Charvarius Ward	Antonio Hamilton	Hakeem Bailey
RCB	Bashaud Breeland	L’Jarius Sneed	Chris Lammons
SCB	Rashad Fenton	Alex Brown	Lavert Hill
FS	Daniel Sorensen	Tedric Thompson
SS	Tyrann Mathieu	Armani Watts	Rodney Clemons

Observations:

• The Chiefs signed free agent DB Tedric Thompson after realizing that Juan Thornhill wouldn’t be ready to start training camp and would be placed on the PUP list. I’m still listing Sorensen ahead of Thompson at free safety, but I anticipate Thompson getting the majority of snaps in single-high looks.
• Rookie CB BoPete Keyes is starting out on the non-football injury list. I didn’t anticipate him as more than a third-string corner in Kansas City to start anyways.
• DT Braxton Hoyett, LB Bryan Wright, CB Javaris Davis, DB Andrew Soroh and DB Jalen Julius were all waived.

Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

Special teams (3)

Pos.	First	Second	Third
P	Tommy Townsend
K	Harrison Butker
KO	Harrison Butker
LS	James Winchester
H	Tommy Townsend
PR	Tyreek Hill	Justice Shelton-Mosley	Maurice Ffrench
KR	Mecole Hardman	Maurice Ffrench	Justice Shelton-Mosley

Observations:

• Chiefs fans who were excited to see a punter battle at training camp will be disappointed to learn that Tommy Townsend has won the battle. Tyler Newsome was waived as Kansas City made moves to get down to 80 players.